Top 100 SNES Review: #43- Super Star Wars (1992)

Geeking Out.

Everyone wants the same things: to use a lightsaber.

Luke Skywalker with Bell’s Palsy.

Sydlexia’s Ranking: #43/100My Rating:

The bar is set very low for Star War games. All any fanboy wants is a chance to play out their galactic fantasies. Even the most fumbling games are greeted with praise and play due to it satisfying the deep-seated need of adventure and acting out heroics.

I remember these games being a big deal to my childhood-self as the idea of a multi-medial approach was something to get excited about. The thought that you could watch the Star Wars movies PASSIVELY and then play them out ACTIVELY so unique.

This game has a hard time making the same claim in 2018 — it’s grown quite rough around the edges.

What’s really odd here: sometimes when you fall in the lava, it’s instant death, and other times it isn’t.

[STORY/SPOILERS]

Darth Vader is Luke’s father.

I know the focus should be on the hooded man, but how is that rock/ledge suspended in air?

[ANALYSIS]

The game is the classic side-scroller that uses motifs from Star Wars to make it interesting. You have blasters, Wookies, Jawas, TIE Fighters, and of course — THE LIGHTSABER. The lightsaber animation is of an impressionistic style. It is more analogous to swinging a Crayola crayon. There are quite a few things stylistically odd due to the constraints of the system.

The vehicle battles are where things get the most wacky. To give the concept of depth, they put your vehicle on a an invisible spit that it rotates around while environment in the background changes. The enemies are sprites that enlarge in size at predetermined intervals. It feels like the D-pad was submerged in honey. It is very much crude.

The battles themselves don’t make much sense. You fire big balls of fire while the enemy does the same for you. It comes off as a Dragon Ball Z fight instead of a futuristic, laser shoot-out. Enemies proceed and recede to easily flank you. There isn’t much rhyme or reason to a strategy, particularly with the Death Star levels.

“GREAT BALLS OF FIRE.” – Jerry Lee Lewis

The Death Star corridor is the most iconic scene from the movie, and I remember hitting this point as a kid thinking that this is it: I have arrived.

The problem is that it’s so disconnected with today’s standards. The way to beat this level is to shoot at the incoming fire that’s coming at you. It’s a surreal interpretation of what space battle really is in Star Wars. These levels were majestic in 1992, but anyone who has played Roque Squadron has seen how much better it can be done.

Faithful to the movie in content but not substance.

[CONCLUSION]

I have one Star Wars game left to review, and it will be interesting to me to see where the three all shake out. Return of the Jedi was, and excuse me for this, LIGHTYEARS ahead of Super Star Wars. It’s just not a solid game and can’t be buoyed by being the only game available that imitates the Star Wars universe anymore.

Other People’s Takes:

Retrogame Man:“In summary, this is an average 2D action game with frustrating bosses, decent music, and horrible vehicle levels.”

Steffan Grasso’s Game Reviews: “Super Star Wars is a good game that at least tries to recreate the Star Wars experience, albeit limited ultimately by what the Super Nintendo was capable of, that and cartridge space.”